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Randal Rauser

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Methodological Naturalism is BAD Historical Method

May 13, 2020 by Randal

Methodological naturalism — the idea that all causes to which one appeals must be “natural” — is bad historical method. It’s pure dogmatism, that’s all.

Here is a simple illustration: in his famous book Chariots of the Gods, Erich Von Daniken visited ancient human civilizations. It’s a bad theory but note that it is, nonetheless, a theory of history, an attempt to reconstruct past events based upon presently available evidence. Von Daniken could possibly have found evidence to win over historians.

It also follows that he could have discovered evidence that these aliens came from the Vega star system. He also could’ve discovered that long ago they created a Dyson sphere, harnessing the power of a star.

He could’ve discovered that they actually came from another universe altogether through some multiverse hopping technology that we cannot fathom. He could’ve discovered that they even created this universe.

In principle, such evidence could be discovered by a historian.

So here’s the conclusion: If the historian, in principle, can discover evidence that aliens who created this universe raised a man from the dead, the historian can, in principle, discover evidence that God raised a man from the dead.

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: historiography, history, methodological naturalism

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